


As long as I live...

by TheAlienAwakens



Category: Seike (Musician)
Genre: Bullying, F/M, Family, Friendship/Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-24
Updated: 2014-02-12
Packaged: 2017-12-09 09:32:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/772678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAlienAwakens/pseuds/TheAlienAwakens
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ever since she moved from Sweden to America, Gabriella Wahlstrom has been the target of bullies. It's never been clear why she's always been bullied, but Gabriella suspects its because she has a disease that makes each iris of her eye a different color and targets her as a freak. Then someone from her past enters her life again. He wants to help her, but she's afraid of opening herself up to a boy she barely remembers. And when he tries to get her to remember him, she closes her mind and refuses. What will she do? Will the boy give up, or keep going until Gabriella remembers? Seike</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The strange boy

Gabriella's POV,

 

The word echoed through my head over and over, spoken by many different voices at once. I put my hands to my ears, as if that would help block out the horrible word. As I moved my hands, anyone who was sitting within my reach flinched away, as they always do. Nobody wants to be touched by the _freak_. That's what they like to say about me; that I'm a freak. Just because I'm quieter than them, because my hair is different, because I would rather sit alone in a classroom and write than go hang out at the mall or get wasted.

 

Then again, it would also be because I have two different colored eyes.

 

I stared down at my phone, trying to catch my reflection in the black screen. I turned the phone to the right a little and caught sight of my eyes. One was an amber color; wolf-colored, as people sometimes called it. The other eye was an emerald green. I pushed my pin-straight, dirty blonde and purple-blue hair from my face and studied my reflection. Heterochromia iridum, it was called. It was caused by excess or lack of melanin (a pigment) in the body. There were a couple ways to get it: inheritance, and injury. My mother tells me that she is sure mine was because of injury, though she couldn't remember exactly what had happened.

 

It wasn't her fault that she couldn't remember, though. About five years ago, Mom fell off a small cliff while her and I were doing our morning jog and hit her head on most of the rocks on her way down. Thankfully, she had survived the fall; however, she had got amnesia from the fall. For three months afterward, doctors worked with her day and night to get her memory back. They were able to get her to remember most of her life, but she still couldn't remember the first five years or so of my life, so she couldn't tell me what happened to my eyes. And my dad... well, I didn't know where he was, so couldn't ask him, either.

 

“Yo, freak, you're in my spot.”

 

Suddenly, I was pushed off the cement wall I was perched on and I fell to the ground- hard. My backpack fell out of my hands and skidded across the ground, leaving a trail of pens, papers, and notebooks in it's wake because of the broken zipper. Raising my arm up to my face to shield it from the sun, I looked at today's attacker. It was John, the dumb and brutish captain of the rugby team. He sneered as I made eye contact with him, but I didn't look away. They loved it when I avoided looking at them and hated it when I kept eye contact with them, so I usually did the latter to piss them off. John sat in the spot previously occupied by me and glared.

 

“Yes, the view is wonderful, isn't it, Wahlstrom?” John mocked in what I knew was an attempt to make me stop looking at him.

 

“Very, nice, Johnathon.” I agreed with a nod as I started to get up. “Too bad your fat head is in the way.”

 

The boy's eyes narrowed and his gaze darkened. He stood from the wall and raised his foot for a kick to my face. There was no way I'd be able to dodge a rugby player's kick, so I just sat there and waited, hoping that Lucas's father was at least home from his business trip so he could stitch me up. I closed by eyes tightly and turned my face away so he'd at least kick my cheek, but no kick came. I cracked open an eye to see that John was being held back by his girlfriend, Abi. She was one of the few preps who had been able to look past my strange eyes and see the kind person that I was. Though, my friendship with her twin sister, Ami, was probably a big factor in that.

 

“Leave, Gabi.” Abi said through her teeth as she struggled with John.

 

The athletic blonde had her boyfriend in a headlock with her arm around his mouth so he couldn't speak. No doubt the poor girl would be yelled at for protecting me, but I couldn't think about that right now. I just needed to get out of there. I jumped up, gathered my stuff and ran off. It was still school time and I wasn't supposed to leave school, but there was no way I was staying there the rest of the day so John could find me at some other point during the day. I ran down the block, all while shoving my books back into my backpack. When it showed that I couldn't run and do that at the same time, I stopped. I got everything back into the bag and sighed. I hated my life, I really did. It was just so complicated and difficult to be able to know who to trust, who not to trust; and--

 

“Hey, bitch, you forgot something.”

 

Something hit the back of my head and I fell once more, my bag flying away and everything spilling out again. I really needed to get that damn zipper fixed. I could hear John laughing behind me, but the sound was getting farther away. Thank god, considering I'd probably end up getting into a fight with the guy if he came closer. I looked down to see that it had been my 200-page English textbook he had thrown at me. With a growl, I picked it up and went to retrieve my other stuff, only to have it all blown out of my reach by the wind. I groaned and chased it, catching most of it.

 

After a few minutes of crawling around, there was only my lyric book left and it was being stubborn, flying away every time I was within reach of it. I was just about to give up (I had most of the lyrics written in there saved onto my computer, anyway) when a pair of black sneakers appeared before me and picked up the notebook. The legs attached to them knelt in front of me and held the book out to me. I took it and looked up into the face attached to the legs; I gasped. Above me was a guy a bit older than me, with black hair, white bangs, and multiple piercings on the bottom part of his face. I stared at his mouth in awe.

 

“Is this yours?” The guy asked with a smile. He had an accent I felt like I should know, but couldn't place.

 

I nodded at him, my eyes still fixed on his mouth. I was curious about his piercings. He had snakebites, a ring hanging under his bottom lip, and two metal balls just above his jawline on each side. I had always wanted my lip done, but I stayed away from anything like piercings or tattoos because my mother had asked me to. Obeying that small command was only a small thing I could do for my poor mother. I blinked and shook my head slightly, reaching for the book in the guy's hand. As I grabbed it, I did something I had promised myself not to do: I looked into his eyes. When my gazed settled on his, the smile on his face dropped and he gasped. I quickly lowered my eyes and shuffled away.

 

“Thanks,” I muttered and rushed off so he couldn't say anything. How the hell had I forgotten my own most important rule? I had been too focused on his mouth, that's why. Stupid me. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. I heard a faint “wait” from behind me, but I just kept running. Last time someone had called out wait to me and I had stopped, I had gotten punched in the face. I definitely wasn't going to make two mistakes in a row today, so I just kept going.

 

The walk home was nice. I loved living in the city because I would walk for hours on end and never end up in the same place twice, if I didn't want to. I walked a lot to keep my mind off of the dangerous things I thought about daily. With my ipod on and the GazettE blaring in my ears, I felt myself when I walked alone. If I didn't need to get home and explain to my mom why the school had (mist likely, by now) called her and said I wasn't at school, I would just keep walking for the rest of the night and go home later. But mom would be worried if I didn't go home and explain things, so I headed for the suburbs where I lived. Some people thought that just because I lived in the rich part of the neighborhood, I had nothing to complain about. What they didn't know was that my mom's parents paid for everything my mother and I had because every cent mom made went towards her hospital bills. Sometimes, when my grandparents weren't satisfied with how mom and I were living, we got cut off and had to live off of small meals so we could pay the bills. My grandparents always started helping out again after a while, but they even expected every bit of money paid back eventually! Sometimes, I wondered if Mom and I were just better off in some dank, two bedroom apartment in the middle of the city.

 

Speaking of Mom, I could see her now. She was standing in the driveway, pacing back and forth. No doubt waiting for me. Her platinum blonde hair was swinging against her back, tied up in a ponytail and she had her best blue jeans and white blouse on. I froze and gulped. Mom only dressed the stereotypical part of suburban wife when my grandparents (her parents) were coming to visit from Sweden. I cursed, wondering why she hadn't told me so I could have my room ready. My grandparents didn't exactly agree with anything I did. I mean, if I was a prep like Abi, I'd be fine. But because I hung out with the scene kids and tended to dress a bit like them, I was a horrible granddaughter. Yes, even amongst my family, I was a freak.

 

“Mom!” I called out, jogging the rest of the way to the house. Mom turned at my voice, relief flooding her face, then anger.

 

“Gabriella Vienna Wahlstrom!” I winced at the use of my full name, “The school called. Why did you leave this time?”

 

“John tried to kick me in the face, so I had to leave.”

 

The anger faded from mom's face just as quickly as it had appeared. Mom knew all about how I was bullied at school, especially by John. “I really wish you'd just tell the school about that boy.”

 

“What's the point?” I asked, “They'll just suspend him, which he'll look at as a vacation, then he'll come back a week later and pick up right where he left off. Maybe, because he missed a rugby practice or two, he'll be even worse on me. See where I'm going here?”

 

Mom sighed and nodded. “Yes, I guess. I really wish people would just leave you alone.”

 

I shrugged. “Whatever. Are Mormor and Morfar coming down?” Though the words felt awkward in my American mouth, my grandparents preferred I used the Swedish name for them. They said it helped me keep in touch with my Swedish roots, though I didn't know how using only two Swedish words did that. It was just easier not to argue with them.

 

“Yep.” Mom sounded _so_ enthused. “They called this morning after you left for school and said that they were going to be here sometime tonight and stay for the weekend. I've been cleaning all day long.”

 

“Did you eat?” I asked. Mom shook her head and I sighed. “Ok, I'll make us a snack. Don't worry, I won't make a mess.”

 

We went inside. Mom went into the living room and I went upstairs to the attic, where my room was. Despite the fact that there were three bedrooms in the house, I preferred the attic because I had more privacy up here. And when I had Lucas and the others over, we could be as loud as we wanted, as late as we wanted without bothering Mom. I changed out of my bright blue shirt and blue jeans, then into a pair of black skinny jeans and my “Gazerock is not dead” tee-shirt. Only at home was I able to wear whatever the hell I wanted, and I wasn't going to change that just because my grandparents were on their way.

 

I went back downstairs, into the kitchen, and began to cut up cheese and salami for a small snack. No doubt Mormor would want to take over the duty of cooking supper when she got here, so Mom and I wouldn't have to worry about that. I opened a sleeve of crackers and spread a few on the plate with the cheese and salami and carried it into the living room. Mom was staring out the window and didn't move when I placed the plate on the coffee table. I snapped my fingers in front of her face and she blinked.

 

“Oh, that was quick.” Mom said as she looked down at the plate.

 

“Mom, I've been in the kitchen for at least twenty minutes.”

 

“You were?” Mom asked, a confused look on her face. She glanced at the clock on the satellite. “Oh, so you were.”

 

I shook my head and went back into the kitchen to clean up. That happened to Mom quite often. If she wasn't watching a show on TV or doing anything else that could indicate a passing of time, she completely blanked out. Sometimes, she missed hours on end, just staring at the wall, at pictures, or out the window to the backyard. She would forget the whole world around her until someone snapped her out of it. If I wasn't home during the day, I'd have to text/call her at dinnertime so I could remind her to take her pills and eat something. I had gotten my phone taken away from me multiple times for doing it, but once my mom came in and explained the situation to the principal he made the teachers stop taking my phone. That was an upside, I suppose.

 

I finished washing the knife I had used to cut up the food and was just putting it away when the doorbell rang.

 

“I'll get it.” I called to my mom as I went to the door.

 

Pushing aside the curtain on the window to the right of the door, I spotted my friends standing on the doorstep. They each had a duffel bag hanging from their shoulders and I cursed. Every friday, they all came over and stayed for the weekend. We hung out upstairs and had our own little part amongst ourselves. Well guess what: today was friday. I opened the door and Lucas smiled at me.

 

“Hey, beautiful.” He said with a smile, flipping his black and blue hair out of his face.

 

“Hey guys. Listen, I don't know if this weekend is good.”

 

“Why not?” Ami, Abi's sister, asked.

 

“My grandparents are coming down from Sweden and you know how they are about...” I gestured to my friends' dark and definitely-noticable clothes.

 

“Non-preps.” Lucas said. “This coming from a girl who has a tee-shirt with a skull and crossbones on the back of it.”

 

“Yeah, well. I don't mind taking my grandparents' criticisms. However, I don't want to hear them blabbing about my choice of friends.”

 

Lucas pouted at me and Ami and the other three of our gang followed suit. These weekends were something we all looked forward to, as it was our mutual escape from the real world. Whether or not I'd let them stay anyway was a tough decision, but Mormor and Morfar stayed at a hotel when they visited, so maybe it wouldn't be too bad. I'd just have to act not-hungover when they came to the house during the day. As I was thinking, Mom came into the entry way and spotted my friends.

 

“Oh, right. It's friday.” She muttered. “If you guys are going to stay this weekend, I'll have to ask you to stay upstairs for the most part.”

 

“OH!” Lucas cheered and skipped by me into the house. “The adult of the house has spoken; we're staying! We'll stay upstairs, Helena.”

 

My mom nodded. “Thanks, kids. Don't make too much noise, either.”

 

“Good thing the attic is soundproof.” Ami said with an innocent smile.

 

Ami came in, followed by Jackson, Oliver, and Holden. I waved at the boys as they came in past me. Oliver smiled sheepishly at me and I returned his smile reassuringly. Oliver was the new guy in school and this was his first time at my house for the weekend. We needed to make him as welcome as possible, which would involve embarrassing him to no end! But only in this house, of course. Anything me and my friends did in this house, stayed in this house. No questions asked. I shut the door behind them and went upstairs.

 

“I'll yell when your grandparents are here.” Mom said.

 

I waved to show that I had heard her. When I got to the attic, the gang already had the bedrolls out of the cupboard and were choosing spots to sleep. Like always, Lucas chose the spot right beside my bed. Even though him and I had only known each other for three years, we were pretty close. I was the only one who knew that Lucas had nightmares when he slept anywhere other than his own house. That's why he slept close to me; so I could hold his hand when he started having a nightmare. Just the touch of someone else calmed him down.

 

Ami settled her bedroll near the bathroom door. She peed a lot in the night and the attic floor squeaked, so she had learned quickly that sleeping near the door was the best way to not wake anyone up. Jackson and Holden picked spots right in the middle of the floor; I sometimes wondered if they liked being stepped on in the morning. Oliver settled a little ways away from the rest of us, but not too far. He was still obviously shy about being here.

 

“There's no need to be scared, Oliver.” I said to him, “We may be the “freakiest” kids at school, but we don't bite.”

“I know!” Oliver said, his voice shocked. “If I was afraid of being bitten, I would have tried to get in with the preppy scene kids.”

 

The rest of us shuddered at the thought. There were lots of kids in the school that claimed to be scene, or emo, or anything that wasn't preppy; but deep down, they fit in perfectly with the preps. They played on sports teams, were well liked, and even made fun of me and my friends. They were all just posers who wanted a little rebellion against their parents because “they were too strict.” Personally, I think those little bastards needed to stop complaining and just be grateful that their parents _remembered_ them all the time. I'd wake up some mornings and Mom would completely forget that she had a daughter and spaz out until she remembered.

 

“But the posers are no fun, Oliver.” Jackson said twinkly.

 

“Yeah,” Holden agreed, “Not like us.”

 

Holden winked at Oliver, who paled. “I have a feeling I _might_ get bitten.”

 

“No,” Lucas spoke up, “There will be no biting tonight. However--”

 

Lucas was interrupted by a ringing sound coming from my bedside drawer. His eyes widened, as did Ami's.

 

“It's _the_ phone.” Ami said in an eerie voice.

 

I rolled my eyes and hopped over Lucas' bedroll and onto my own bed. The phone that was ringing was not my actual cell phone, but a cheap, pay-as-you-go one that I used in case I lost my notebooks or iPod. It was too dangerous to put my real phone number in the books because then I got harassed to no end. Before I answered the call, I did a quick check of my book-bag to find that my dream journal was missing. How the fuck had I missed that?! I sighed, hoping that at least someone decent had found it, and not someone from school. Everyone went silent as I dug the phone out of the drawer and answered it.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Hello, is this Gabriella Wahlstrom?”

 

Oh, for fucks sake! It was that guy who had caught my lyric book. I could tell by the accent I still couldn't place. Lucas perched on the edge of my bed and stared quizzically at my angered face; I waved him away.

 

“Yes, this is she.” I said.

 

“Good! My name is Seike. I helped you pick up your notebook earlier and you missed one. I tried to call out to you, but I guess you didn't hear me.”

 

Oh, I did, but I wasn't going to turn around. “No, I didn't. Sorry.”

 

“That's okay.” Seike said cheerfully and I nearly laughed at his stupidity. “So is there anyway for me to get this back to you?”

 

“Umm...” I looked around the room at my friends. “Not tonight, but maybe we could meet in the morning. Say ten o'clock at Starbucks?”

 

“Sounds good to me. See you then.”

 

“Goodbye.”

 

I flipped the phone closed and put it back in my drawer. The room stayed silent, and I knew that everyone was just bursting with questions. I waited patiently, knowing that if I didn't say anything, someone else would eventually.

 

“Who are you meeting, Gabi?” Lucas asked seductively. “A cute boy? Because if it is, I am SO coming with you!”

 

“Someone grab the phone!” Ami squealed, “We can get the guy's number!”

 

Before anyone else could react, I slipped the key to the drawer from it's place in my pillowcase and locked the drawer. I dropped the key into my bra and smirked at my friends. Lucas quirked an eyebrow at me.

 

“You think that'll stop us? No-one in this room has a problem reaching down your shirt, Gabs.”

 

“I do.” Oliver muttered, then turned red when he realized that we had heard him. “Sorry, but sexual harassment isn't exactly okay for me.”

 

The rest of us exchanged a knowing look. We were all thinking the same thing: by the end of the night, Oliver would either regret not sticking with the preps, or suddenly change his mind about reaching down my shirt. Lucas slithered towards the blonde boy and settled in his lap. Oliver's face went even redder and he tried to squirm out from under Lucas. Yet, he failed, because Lucas worked out so he could easily defend himself against guys like John.

 

“Oh, come now, Oli-kun~” Lucas purred in the other boy's ear, “If you're going to hang out with us, you're going to have to be comfortable with sexual harassment... At least, between us you will be.”

 

Lucas ran his hand down Oliver's chest, his fingers ghosting over the silver belt buckle. Oliver suddenly acquired a bought of strength and pushed the brunette away from him. The rest of us burst out laughing because Oliver's face was as red as someone's face could go.

 

“Thinking you should've ran with the preps?” Holden asked.

 

Suddenly, the color of Oliver's face went back to normal and a thoughtful look crossed his face. “Surprisingly, no, I'm not.”

 

“He's becoming one of us.” Ami said, using that eerie voice again.

 

“One of us, one of us, one of us.” We all chanted.

 

Oliver shook his head, but laughed along with us. It was nice to see him beginning to be more comfortable with us. He moved his bedroll a bit closer and we started to chat eagerly. Lucas' older brother had gotten alcohol for us tonight, so we were all excited for when my grandparents finally got here, so then we could be excited for them to leave. While my mom might not mind us drinking (she says as long as she knows we're all safe in the house, she doesn't care), my grandparents might not be too fond of the idea.

 

“Gabriella!” My mom called. Without her saying it, I already new my grandparents were here. Except when she was mad, she only called me Gabriella when they were here. “Your grandparents are here!”

 

“Good luck.” Lucas said.

 

I nodded a thanks and went downstairs. I probably should've changed into something brighter in color, but I honestly didn't care. Mormor and Morfar could think whatever the hell they wanted about me. When I got to the top of the stairs, I stopped. Just like mom had said, Mormor and Morfar were there, smiling. What I wasn't expecting was their bags, which were sitting in the entryway. Were they staying here?! I glanced at my mom and she nodded, easily guessing why I looked panicked. I swallowed my surprise and went to embrace my grandparents.

 

“Oh, Gabriella! How we've missed you!” My grandmother cooed as she wrapped her arms tightly around me.

 

It was Swedish! That guy, Seike, had a Swedish accent! I had recognized it because it was the same accent as my grandparents, and sometimes my mother (though hers had faded away about fifteen years ago). I smiled up at my grandparents.

 

“Hello, Mormor.” I turned towards my grandfather. “Morfar.”

 

My grandfather nodded in awknowlagement, but didn't move to hug me. He wasn't a very touchy-feely type of person. I didn't mind because I really wasn't, either.

 

“Shall we go in the kitchen?” Mom suggested.

 

We all did so and sat around the table. As always when they visited, Mormor and Morfar started talking about anything that had happened in Sweden since they last visited. Who had moved where, who had divored/remarried this person, who or what had changed drastically. When Mormor got to the last topic, her eyes suddenly went wide.

 

“That reminds me! Helena, dear, do you remember Astrid?”

 

Mom had a blank look on her face as she tried to remember. As I had said earlier, she barely remembered anything before I was five, and that also meant more of her live before I was even born! However, mom slowly nodded at the question and smiled.

 

“Astrid was my best friend! Oh, I miss her so much.” A sad look crossed my mother's face for just a second, then she turned to me and smiled. “Astrid had a son around your age, Gabriella. You two were really close. Do you remember him?”

 

I shook my head. “I don't remember much from Sweden,” I admitted.

 

I was born there and we had lived there for the first seven years of my life. The only thing I really remembered from living in Sweden was the fucking freeze-your-tits-off winters. I got frostbite one winter when I had stayed outside during a snowstorm. I had traveled much to far from the house and got lost when the snow had started and prevented me from seeing two feet in front of me. How had I gotten home that day? Someone had found me, but who? Maybe the guy Mom was talking about? Yeah, I could remember a boy with light brown dragging me through the snow and into my house. Then, he rubbed warmth back into my fingers and chastised me for being outside in such weather. But he had been kind while he scolded me, smiling the whole time.

 

“I guess I kind of remember him, but not really.” I shrugged, but smiled at the memory.

 

“Well, I have a couple packages from them!” Mormor said cheerfully. She stood up and went back into the entryway. She started digging through her bags and then reappeared a few minutes later with two small boxes in her hand. To my surprise, she handed one of them to me. “That one's from the boy personally, Gabriella. Meant to go to you when your grandfather and I came to visit.”

 

I stared wide-eyed at the plain brown box in my hands. I was afraid of opening it, to be honest. I couldn't even remember the guy so I didn't want to open this and there be something that should have been valuable to be, but actually wasn't. Deciding that curiosity was going to get the best of my, anyway, I picked up the knife mom held out to me and cut open the box. Inside were a lot of foam packing peanuts and I smirked. That would be fun for me and the gang later. I dug through the foam and my hand touched something velvety. I withdrew and looked at what was in my hand. It was a velvet jewelry box. The panic I had about opening the box came back and I sighed. Everyone at the table was staring at me, waiting for me to reveal what was in the box.

 

“Open it.” Mormor urged gently. I glanced at her and nodded.

 

The box squeaked as I opened it and I gasped. Inside, settled on a silk cushion, was a black locket. At first glance, one would mistake it to be heart shaped, but with further inspection I saw that it was an upside down spade. like, the suit in cards. The piece that held the chain to the pendant made the stem of the spade. The pendant itself was a little bit smaller than the round part of a spoon; it settled nicely in my palm. It was just plain, with nothing engraved on it, so I opened it up. On the right side of the locket was a picture of a five-year-old me with my arms wrapped around a boy about the age of nine or ten. I was kissing the boy's cheek and he had a wide smile on his cheek. I bit my lip, trying to remember the guy. While I thought about it, I looked over to the left of the locket. Here, there was something engraved. I was to squint a little to read it, but when I did the words still were not clear. 

 

“Så länge jag lever, kommer du aldrig ensam.” I read aloud, then shook my head. “I can't translate it myself.” Mom reached her hand out and I placed the necklace in her palm. She read it over herself and then smiled. 

 

“It says _'As long as I live, you will never be alone.'_ I think he used to say that to you a lot when I used to leave you with him and Astrid to go.... somewhere, I can't remember where, exactly.”

 

“Oh.” was all I could say as she handed it back to me. I clutched it to my chest, treasuring it even though I couldn't really remember the boy. Which reminded me... “What was his name?”

 

Mom shrugged, and Mormor and Morfar exchanged a confused look. 

 

“Can't remember ourselves, dear.” Mormor said, a thoughtful look still on her face. “He calls himself Seike, now.”

 

No. Fucking. Way. It couldn't be, it just couldn't. It was just way too coincidental. There was no possible way--

 

“What's in your package, Mom?” I was hoping for a picture of some sort. 

 

Mom dug through her box and took out a silver picture frame that was decorated with little turtles along the side. Turtles were mom's favorite animal. She smiled at the frame and showed me the picture. In it was a slender, tall woman with brown hair and blue eyes. Beside her was a young man that I don't need to describe again. It was Seike. I closed my eyes and stood up from the table. 

 

“I'm not feeling very well. May I go to my room?”

 

Mom stared at me, a concerned look on her face. “What's wrong?”

 

“I just-- need to rest. Can I go?” 

 

“Let her go Helena. It's obvious she's upset about not remembering the boy.”

 

No, that wasn't it, but let's let them think that. Mom nodded, gesturing for me to go. I skipped up the stairs, two at a time. Then up the attic stairs, and I went into my room. My friends were just talking and immediately stopped when I came in. They took in my flushed face and Lucas stood up. 

 

“You okay, Gabs?”

 

I leveled my gaze at him and nodded. “Where's the liquor? It's time to start having fun.”


	2. Chapter Two

Gabriella's POV

 

The Starbucks was warm and inviting, like it always was. This was one of my favorite places to be. The workers and most of the customers I saw here on a daily basis were kind and non-judgemental about my eyes. Well, I _did_ shock one of the workers into fainting the first time I came in here. But he apologized afterwards, saying that my eyes had just surprised him slightly. He and I talked a lot after the incident had happened and he was genuinely interested in why my eyes were the way they were. Even better, he was working today. I adjusted my sunglasses and went up to the counter.

 

“Morning, Gabi.” Trevor said brightly. “How are you?”

 

He knew the answer; it was the same as every Saturday morning, but he was polite enough to ask anyway. “Hungover. More so than usual.”

 

“Rough night?” Trevor asked as he started making my **Caramel Macchiato, the usual.**

 

**“Oh yes, very much so. I'm meeting someone today and I got a bit nervous about it last night, soo... yeah.”**

 

**“Meeting someone? Who?” Trevor's voice had a hint of surprise to it, so I could just imagine the look on his face, even though his back was to me.**

 

**“A guy.” I said simply. Trevor did turn then, eyeing me suspiciously.**

 

**“A guy.” He repeated slowly.**

 

**I smirked. “Yes, Trevor, a guy. Is it that shocking?”**

 

**The older guy blushed and went back to making my drink. “Well no. It's just that guys...”**

 

**“Don't usually hang out with me, I know. And I won't date Lucas, Jack, or Holden, so you're confused as shit, right?”**

 

**As Trevor finished my coffee, I stepped to the side to grab it. He nodded at my words and I shrugged. I told him that it was a long story and that I'd tell it to him when I knew it myself. He smiled and agreed that I should. We said goodbye and I walked over to a couch in a secluded corner of the store and waited. It was 9:50, so I had a good ten minutes before Seike showed up to think about what I'd say. It was obvious now that Seike was recognized me yesterday. I mean, my eyes weren't exactly the most forgettable things around. I fiddled with the locket around my neck; maybe I shouldn't have worn it. It might just make things worse. I didn't know what Seike was even going to say to me today. Would he just give me my journal and walk away? Or would he say something about the past? I still didn't remember him, though I did have a dream last night that could've been a memory. It was with the younger Seike holding me while I cried. I didn't know what I was crying about, but it was too clear to just be a dream.**

 

**The bell above the door snapped my out of my thoughts and I glanced up. Seike was in the doorway, looking around. I quickly shoved the locket back into the neck of my shirt, hiding it for now. Seike spotted me and waved. I waved back and sat up straight. It was time to face him, the boy from my past I couldn't remember. I felt bad for that fact, but it wasn't like I could do anything about it. Seike walked over, keeping his eyes on me as if I'd disappear if he looked away. The way he was scrutinizing me was torture and my body started to heat up with embarrassment. I knew he was trying to see how I acted and what I knew because that's what he did. He sized people up to see if they would be kind to him and not judge him and--**

 

**Holy shit, did I just** **_remember_ ** **something about Seike? Was this a good sign, or a bad one? Either way, I suddenly had a feeling that I wouldn't get out of this coffee shop easily. I knew, somewhere deep within me, that it wouldn't be as simple as “here's your journal. Bye.”**

 

**“Hello.” Seike said, his smile bright but guarded.**

 

**Obviously, he didn't know how to handle this situation, either. He knew who I was, but he didn't want to push it if I didn't say anything. He wasn't a pushy person.**

 

**And another thing remembered. At this rate, I was going to remember everything about Seike by lunch time. To get my mind off of all the memories that were flooding in, I returned Seike's greeting and stood up. Neither of us said anything for a few awkward seconds, but then Seike cleared his throat and reached into his shoulder bag and withdrew my blue dream journal. I took the book and held it tightly to my chest. Out of all my notebooks, this one was my** **favorite.** **It had an illustration of the night sky painted in water colors on the front cover, along with little shiny, silver indents that represented stars. Lucas made it for me last year when I started having nightmares. My doctor had suggested writing down all the dreams I remembered. He figured that if I tried to understand my dreams, it would help cope with them- he was right, it did help.**

 

**“Thank you for returning the journal.” I said quietly, not meeting his eyes.**

 

**“You're welcome.” Seike said in a voice just as quiet. He bent his head forward, trying to catch my gaze. I blushed as our eyes met and he smiled, and this time it was genuine. “You have very beautiful eyes, you know.”**

 

**In my chest, my heart seemed to stop for second. Other than my mother, no-one had ever called my eyes beautiful before. Even my friends had never said it. They said that my eyes were** **_nice_ ** **or** **_interesting_ ** **, but never** **_beautiful._ ** **I mumbled a thanks and looked away, the blush on my face deepening. Seike stood there for a second, then reached forward and tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear. I was so shocked at the action that I raised my head to stare at him with wide eyes. His smile was kind and I found myself returning it. This guy, whom I could barely remember, had brought out something that was rare for me. Obviously, there were things I still needed to remember; because there was definitely something special about this guy.**

 

**“Gabriella...” Seike started, but was interrupted by a way too familiar voice at the door of the shop. I peeked over Seike's shoulder to see John standing in the doorway, his closest friends from the rugby team at his back. And they were all staring at me.**

 

**“Shit.” I muttered, shoving the journal in my bag and backing away. “I'm sorry Seike, but I have to go.”**

 

**Before Seike could reply, I spun around and went towards the counter. Hurriedly, I asked Trevor if I could cut through the back and sneak out the back door. He said I could, knowing the trouble I had with John. I slipped behind the counter and ran for my life.**

 

**(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)**

 

 

**Seike's POV**

 

**I watched Gabriella walk away from me with a confused look on my face. It had seemed like we were getting close to something, but then she suddenly got nervous and ran off. Had I said something? No, I was sure I hadn't, but she had looked over my shoulder. I turned and looked too, and saw a group of guys just leaving the shop. I watched them as they walked swiftly around the building. Were they following Gabriella? If they were, she might need help. I left the shop and ran after the guys. Sure enough, behind the shop, just a little ways down an alley, Gabriella had been cornered by the biggest of them while the other four were standing a few feet away, watching quietly.**

 

**“Go away, John.” She hissed menacingly, clutching her bag to her chest.**

 

**“But if I did that, we wouldn't be able to have any fun, now would we?” The biggest guy of the group grabbed Gabriella by the chin, roughly, and forced her face upwards.**

 

**She glared at him, her eyes cold, but she also shuddered under his touch and I stepped forward a bit. Gabriella caught my eye over John's shoulder. With the way the rest of the group was standing, only she could see me and gave a slight shake of the head, silently telling me to not to get involved. I stepped back, but didn't go away. I wasn't going to let this guy hurt her, but my presence this early could do just that, so I stayed back.**

 

**“What's this, babe?” John trailed his fingers down her neck and I could tell Gabriella was holding back a gag at the motion. The guy slipped his fingers into the neck of her crew-neck tee-shirt and pulled something out. Gabriella made a grasp for his hand, trying to stop him, but he grabbed her wrist with his free hand and pulled it away, pinning it up over her head. With her other hand clutching her bag, she was completely defenceless.**

 

**“Let it GO!” She screamed, struggling against the guy's grasp.**

 

**“Nah.” He replied, ripping what I saw now was a silver chain from Gabriella's neck. She squeaked as the chain came free and struggled harder. Her attempts just made John laugh as he held up the chain. On the end of it, was something I definitely wasn't expecting.**

 

**A black locket. The same spade-shaped locket I had packed in a box and given to Mom to send with her best friend's parents as a gift to Gabriella. Did that mean that Gabriella remembered me? No, it couldn't be; when I had helped her yesterday, her face had been totally blank, so signs of recognition whatsoever. Even today, when she looked at me before she ran off, there wasn't anything said or done to indicate that she knew who I was. But yet... here she was, trying in vain to protect the locket I had given her. John threw the locket at one of his friends and ordered them to open it. They did, explained the picture, then squinted at the writing I knew they couldn't read.**

 

**“What the fuck is this?” The one holding the necklace said, “Gibberish?”**

 

**“What are you talking about?” John snapped, keeping Gabriella in his hold.**

 

**“There's something written in here, but it's in a different language.”**

 

**John turned back towards Gabriella, a sick, sweet smile on his face. “What does it say, babe?”**

 

**“It says you've got a small dick and your girlfriend wears the pants in the relationship.” Gabriella said coolly.**

 

**_CRACK_ **

 

**Gabriella whimpered, turned her head and spit. There was a gob of blood in her saliva; that punch might have broken her jaw. I stepped forward again, earning another warning glance from the girl. John, still oblivious to the looks Gabriella was giving me, barked an order to the group, telling them to smash the locket to bits.**

 

**“** **_NO!_ ** **” Gabriella screamed again, struggling harder than ever before. “** **_DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE, KEVIN!_ ** **”**

 

**The boy with the locket, Kevin, glanced at Gabriella for a second, hesitation flashing in his blue eyes. He didn't want to smash the locket, not if Gabriella apparently cared for it so much. He was obviously the kind of guy who could watch bad things be done, but not do them himself. Gabriella tried to speak again, but John got in another punch, this time in her stomach.**

 

**“Do it, Kevin,” John said in a low tone, “Or I'll tell everyone about your Aunt... Or should I say your un--”**

 

**“Ok, I'll do it!” Kevin said, cutting John off. The blonde kid dropped the locket to the ground and brought his foot up.**

 

**Well, no more hiding for me. I ran into the alleyway and pushed the Kevin boy away from the necklace. After I picked the locket up, I spun on John and yanked him away from Gabriella. I stood in front of Gabriella, using my body as a wall between her and the group of guys. John just stood there and stared at me, but didn't say anything. My fists were clenched, ready to fight if they had to. However, John just smirked, spun on his heels and walked away. The rest of them followed after a second of confusion. Other than the sound of traffic, the alleyway was silent- until the girl behind me slid down the brick wall and brought her knees up to her chest. I crouched beside her, gripping the locket in my hand. Now was probably a bad time to ask the question that was on my mind, but I had to know.**

 

**“Gabriella, do you--”**

 

**“No.” She interrupted, “I don't remember you. Not fully, anyway.”**

 

**“Not fully..?” I sat down beside her.**

 

**“No. All I remember is you pulling me out of a snow storm and me crying on your shoulder when I was five. I don't even remember why I was crying--”**

 

**“Your father.” I said automatically, the memory coming immediately to me. At Gabriella's confused and slightly shocked look, I explained, “The day you came to me crying was the day your father up and left. Your mother went into a state of shock and you were so afraid; you came running to my house, crying that there was something wrong with your mother. While my mom went to go see what was wrong, I held you while you cried. It was an hour before you finally calmed down, but when I went to let go of you, you wouldn't let me. You were scared of being alone and said,** **_“If you let go, you might not come back- just like Daddy.”_ ** **Want to take a guess at what I told you?”**

 

**“Så länge jag lever, kommer du aldrig ensam.” Gabriella whispered, her Swedish nearly perfect even though she had been away from the country for so long.**

 

**“Yeah.”**

 

**Gabriella sighed and opened her mouth, only to turn and spit again. There was still blood, so I quickly stood up. “You need to go to a hospital.” I said.**

 

**“No, I'm fine.” She stood up too, but clutched her stomach as she did so and groaned.**

 

**“Gabriella, you're cut!” I said, pointing to a spot on her stomach. Her shirt was ripped and blood seeped from a wound.**

 

**“Oh shit.” She murmured as she caught sight of the blood.**

 

**Her skin paled and her eyes rolled back into her head. I just managed to catch her as she fell. I guess she didn't like the sight of blood. Her small body was easy for me to pick up, bridal-style, and I was able to get her to the car I was renting. At least this way, I'd have no fights about her going to a hospital.**

 

 

 

**(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)**

 

 

**Gabriella's POV**

 

 

**An antiseptic smell filled my nose and my eyes shot open as I quickly sat up. I was in a sky-blue hospital room and hooked up to an IV drip that was filling me with some kind of liquid I guessed was an iron supplement of some kind. I gritted my teeth in an attempt to resist the urge to rip the needle out of my skin; I had an issue with needles and an even bigger issue with them being stuck into my body while I was unresponsive. Just as I went to reach for the IV tube, a voice spoke from the doorway.**

 

**“Don't touch it, Miss Wahlstrom.”**

 

**I looked up to see my favorite person in the whole world: Doctor Toby Mallard. Mallard has known my mother and me since we got here from Sweden. Whenever Mom and I would need treatment for anything, he was the doctor we called for. I liked him because he was one of the first people that wasn't judgemental about my eyes. He was in between mine and Mom's ages (in his late twenties) but the lines on his face made him look much older. Stresses from being a doctor, I suppose. I smirked innocently at the man.**

 

**“Get it out of me, and I won't have to.” I said. I didn't like being mean to him**

 

**Mallard ran his hand through his shoulder-length black hair as he read something on the clipboard in his hand. “You haven't been taking your vitamins, Gabi.”**

 

**“I forgot.” I shrugged. “Please take this thing out of me, Doc.”**

 

**He just ignored me. “Forgetfulness isn't something that you can have, Gabi.” He said softly.**

 

**“I know. Mom has enough of it for the both of us and I can't take the risk of getting sick while she's in one of her states.” Mallard had talked about this to me many times before, and I knew the words by heart.**

 

**“Okay, you understand why Iron supplements are something that you** **_cannot_ ** **forget, now promise me you'll remember to take them, Gabi.”**

 

**I sighed. As kind as it was for him to care about me, I wasn't used to it, so I only nodded. Apparently that wasn't good enough, because Doc said that he wasn't going to touch the needle until I promised verbally.**

 

**“I promise I'll take my Iron supplement pills, Doctor Mallard.” I muttered.**

 

**“Good.” He said, putting the clipboard down and coming over to the bed I was on.**

 

**Gently, he took the white tape off the needle and eased it out of my arm, quickly pressing a cotton ball to the hole it had come out of. I relaxed significantly and thanked him.**

 

**“Uh, Doc...” I said slowly, a question coming to mind.**

 

**“Hmm?” is how he answered as he disposed of the needle.**

 

**“How did I get here? I remember John cornering me in an alleyway, but I don't know what happened after he got chased away.”**

 

**Mallard started washing his hands. “A boy brought you in. Said you got punched a couple times, refused to let him bring you here, then you fainted after seeing the cut on your abdomen.” He turned to me and grinned stupidly. “The young man was quite worried about you, even though the cut was fairly shallow. Probably made by a ring Johnathon was wearing or something.” He shrugged, but the grin was still there.**

 

**“I know what you're thinking, Doc, and it's nothing like that. Seike is an old friend from Sweden, nothing more.”**

 

**“Uh huh.” I could tell he didn't believe me, but I just dropped it. “Anyway, I have to get back to work. You can go. Young Seike said to wait for him, though.”**

 

**“Damn.”**

 

**“Language, young lady.” The Doctor called from the hallway.**

**I stuck my tongue out at his retreating form and grabbed my black bag off of a chair next to the bed. The hallway was busy and I weaved through the throng of people to the front door, where Seike was just coming in. He smiled at me and I glared, to which his response was a bigger smile.**

 

**“I said I didn't want to go to a hospital.” I scolded as we stood in front of the brick building.**

 

**“Come on, Gabriella. You fainted! What was I supposed to do?”**

 

**“Leave me there until I woke up?” I suggested.**

 

**Seike shook his head, another smile forming. “That's not really what I do.”**

 

**“Oh well, whatever. What's done is done. Now Mom will know I haven't been taking my meds and scold me.” I dug though my bag for my phone. Ten missed calls from mom and quite a few from my friends. “Are you going to take me home?”**

 

**“Of course.” Seike said. “Do you think I'd just leave you to walk?”**

 

**“I don't know.” I muttered as Seike led the way to his vehicle. “Most people do just leave me to walk.”**

 

**Seike didn't say anything, so I just cleared my throat and mumbled that I had to call my Mom. We got into his car and I dialled the familiar number. It barely rang once before my mother picked up.**

 

**“** **Gabriella Vienna Wahlstrom! Where are you?!”**

 

**“Leaving the hospital.”**

 

**“What? Why? Gabi, what happened?”**

 

**“Met with John in an alleyway.” I said casually.**

 

**“Oh Gabi. Are you okay?” Mom asked, her voice lowering considerably.**

 

**“Yeah. I'm fine. I had...” I glanced sideways at Seike. “A savior.”**

 

**I ignored the grin that covered Seike's face.**

 

**“Who was it?”**

 

**“Nobody. I'm almost home now. See you soon.”**

 

**I hung up the phone and slipped it back into my bag. The ride back to my house was silent other than when I pointed Seike in the direction of my house. We pulled into my driveway and I thanked Seike. As I was about to get out, Seike stopped me.**

 

**“Do you want this back?” He asked. He held out his hand. The locket dangled from between his fingers.**

 

**“Didn't it break?”**

 

**Seike adjusted his grip to show me the latch, which was good as new. “I went to get it fixed while you were at the hospital.”**

 

**I studied the locket, then nodded. I knew I would both regret it and hurt his feelings if I declined the necklace. Why I would regret it, I couldn't quite pinpoint, but I just had the feeling I would. Seike dropped the chain into my outstretched palm, then I brought my hand to my chest.**

 

**“Thank you for helping me today.” I said quietly, a blush forming on my cheeks. I wasn't used to saying thank you to anyone other than Doctor Mallard or Mom so I felt a wee bit awkward.**

 

**However, Seike didn't seem to notice it. He just smiled. “You're welcome. And listen, I'm going to be staying in the city for a little while, so if you ever want help remembering your time in Sweden, you can give me a call. If you want to, that is.”**

 

**A tempting offer. He probably wanted me to remember him as much as I (shockingly enough) found myself wanting to remember him. But he was still a stranger to me now, and I wasn't good around strangers. They scared me because I never could predict whey they would do to me. Then again, Seike had pretty much proven already that he wasn't going to hurt me so I accepted his offer. After double checking that I had his number, he left.**

 

**I went back in the house to find my grandparents and my mother sitting in the living room. My friends were probably still upstairs “hiding from the Sweds,” as they called it. Sometimes, even** **_I_ ** **questioned my choice of friends.**

 

**“Oh, Gabriella!” My mother jumped up from her chair and ran over to me so she could engage me in a bear-hug. “Oh, we were so worried. Did John hurt you?”**

 

**“Just a cut.” I said, showing her the shallow wound on my stomach. “No big deal.”**

 

**“Why don't you call the cops on this boy?” Mormor suggested. “From what your mother has told us, there is lots of ground for arresting.”**

 

**“It wouldn't do any good.” I said. “His uncle is chief of police and John would just beat me harder. Anyway, it's fine. I'm going back upstairs.”**

 

**Before my grandparents or my mother could say anything else, I fled the living room and went up to the attic. My friends were still there; Ami and Lucas were playing New Super Mario Bros on my Wii, but they were just picking each other up and throwing their respective characters off of cliffs and edges. I cleared my throat, causing Lucas to turn around quickly and drop his controller. That gave Ami the upper hand, and she threw his character (the blue Toad) off the cliff. Lucas' last life blinked out and Ami cheered breifly before sobering up and giving me a worried look.**

 

**“Where have you** **_been_ ** **?” She asked. “We were starting to worry. Did you run into John?”**

 

**I nodded, and sat by the TV with them. Then, I told the story about what had happened to me, starting when I was cornered by John and ending with Seike driving me home. They all listened intently and when I added how I knew Seike from my childhood, eyes went wide.**

 

**“I want to remember him,” I said quietly, “but I'm afraid there are some bad memories involved.**

 

**Lucas wrapped his arms around me, whispering soothing words into my ear.**

 

**“It's okay, hun. If there are bad memories involved, we will all be here for you.”**

 

**My other friends nodded, and I felt joy surge inside me. My friends were my everything, and I don't know what I would do without them.**

 

**“Thank you guys.”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: SHITTY CHAPTER ENDING ALERT! I'm sorry, I really am. I have fallen into the Tom Hiddleston fandom and I'm kind of trapped. Because of this, I've been neglecting my other stories. Hopefully, I can start writing this one again. What do YOU think should happen in the next chapter? Please give me any suggestions you may have. Thanks. :)
> 
> ~Rina


End file.
